New England budget 01.29.09

Thursday

Jan 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 29, 2009 at 7:52 PM

Here are the top New England regional stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at gatehousenewsservice.com.

Here are the top New England regional stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at gatehousenewsservice.com. Please submit stories below no later than 6 p.m. local time, unless you have breaking news that is changing significantly. Questions?

Contact: Chris Biondi, (508) 626-4343, cbiondi@gatehousemedia.com

At ghnewsroom.com:

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News

GOOD TO LOCALIZE: AS RECESSION DEEPENS, DISCOUNT STORES DRAW WIDER RANGE OF CUSTOMERS - Until a few months ago, Karen Smith seldom visited discount stores. She has a steady job as a restaurant server, and her husband is in the Coast Guard. She didn’t feel they needed to. Until now.
Ledger, Lambert, on wire now
With photos

EXPERTS TACKLE HEAD INJURY PROBLEM - Medical experts said they hope to draw attention to head injuries in youth sports amid news that a trauma-induced brain disease associated with career football players has been found in a deceased teen.
MetroWest, Morton, on wire now
With photo

SNOW IS STICKING AROUND - The latest storm has added to the piles of snow on the ground, which has been around for an unusually long amount of time.
Ledger, Saldinger, on wire now
With photo

MAN ACCUSED IN NEEDHAM MURDER COMMITTED FOR ANOTHER YEAR - William Dunn, the Norwood contractor accused of killing a Needham man in his home in November 2007, will spend another year at Bridgewater State Hospital after he was once again found incompetent to stand trial.
CNC, Ryan, on wire now
With photo

GOOD TO LOCALIZE: PATRICK PROPOSING TAXES TO SOFTEN THE BLOW OF STATE AID CUTS TO CITIES AND TOWNS - As the state gears up for a long debate on the 2010 budget, the budget year that begins July 1, South Shore cities and towns must immediately make tough decisions to address the local aid cuts.
Ledger, Reardon, on wire now

LEVEL 3 SEX OFFENDER: “I AM NOT A PEDOPHILE” - Convicted rapist Alvin Fields says reports of his crimes have been blown out of proportion. “I am not a pedophile,” Fields said. “I am not violent. I have never attacked a kid. I am not a dangerous person.”
Ledger, Race, on wire nolw
With file photo

DRINKING TO DRIVE HOME SOBERING MESSAGE - A hardy band of good sports volunteered to take part in a controlled experiment at the citizens police academy. Half a dozen residents, many of them graduates from previous years, agreed to imbibe up to seven or eight beers or glasses of wine over several hours to demonstrate the impact of alcohol consumption on judgment and motor skills for a class on drunk driving.
Bridgewater Independent, Hyman, on wire now
With photos

BEVERLY REMEMBERS UPDIKE AS A LOW-KEY, OBSERVANT AND GENEROUS CELEBRITY - The presence of a “literary giant” in the library often made the assistant library director nervous. His questions would typically run the gamut, covering topics ranging from old cars and baseball to scientific inquiries. Updike’s “gentle, calm and unassuming” persona often calmed Langstaff in the end.
Beverly Citizen, Gates, on wire now
With photo

MORE NATURAL GAS LEAKS DISCOVERED AROUND GLOUCESTER - National Grid has discovered at least five more natural gas leaks around Gloucester following a massive explosion that leveled an Eastern Avenue home last weekend and seriously injured a veteran Gloucester police officer.
CNC, Friday, on wire now
With photo

Business

MASSACHUSETTS BUSINESS IN BRIEF - The Massachusetts Restaurant Association lashes out at Gov. Patrick’s plan to raise the sales tax on meals; HarborOne Credit Union’s earnings are up 23%; State Street’s equity fund grows by 60%; Sovereign shareholders approve the sale to Banco Santander; Home Depot shutters its 34-store Expo Design Center chain; job losses at Analogic Corp.; and nominations are open for the Massachusetts Alliance for International Business awards.
Ledger, on wire now

ANNIE MCQUILKEN: HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR ADVISOR IS NO PONZI - The rich history of Lexington, Mass., is usually a source of pride, but one of the town's most famous residents gave his name to some of the biggest swindles of all time. Charles Ponzi lived in Lexington for only a short time, but it was where he was living when his scheme was uncovered.
Lexington Minuteman, guest column, on wire now

FURNITURE STORE IS COMING FULL CIRCLE - Circle Furniture’s opens store on Route 53 in Pembroke to replace the company’s smaller Hanover store about four miles up the road.
Ledger, Onufrak, on wire now
With photos

Opinions

EDITORIAL: SAL'S PENSION - The timing of House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi's resignation this week raises questions still unanswered: Does his retreat mean ethics investigators were getting closer to him? Was this a maneuver to pave the way for his preferred successor? Why ask his North End constituents to give him another term if he intended to quit less than a month into it? Why seek re-election as speaker if he planned to quit less than three weeks later?
MetroWest, on wire now

PHILIP MADDOCKS: CONCERNED IT IS NO LONGER TOO BIG TO FAIL, CITIGROUP HIRES 60,000 LOBBYISTS - Concerned that it may no longer be too big to fail, Citigroup announced on Monday that it will hire 60,000 lobbyists to replace the more than 50,000 workers it is dropping from its payroll.
CNC, on wire now

O'MAHONEY CARTOON: ON ETHICS AND POLITICIANS IN MASS.
Ledger, on wire now

EDITORIAL: DON’T MAKE LIBRARY HORROR STORY WORSE - Rather than grappling with one municipal budget crisis after another, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners should amend or suspend its rules on minimum library funding until the economy is on firmer ground.
Ledger, on wire now

LESLIE NICHOLSON: HEALTH INSURANCE SAVINGS ARE A HOME RUN FOR KIDS - With political leaders turning up the volume on talk of “the GIC,” parents may wonder why an issue that sounds like inside baseball could make a big difference for what happens in their children’s classrooms in the next year.
Lexington Minuteman, guest column, on wire now

LLOYD GARVER: SOME EXECS ARE FEELING FLUSH - A question that many of us would love to have answered is, Whatever happened to those original billions in Wall Street bailout money? Would we be wrong to say that some of that is going down the toilet?
On wire now

Sports

WATCH FOR PRO SPORTS at prosports@gatehousemediane.com

Lifestyles

CLAFLIN HILL ORCHESTRATES A REVIVAL - Like a true ensemble, members of the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra are pulling together through troubled economic times to continue bringing top-quality music to the region.
MetroWest, bergeron, on wire now
With photo

BALL IN THE HOUSE HITS AMAZING THINGS SATURDAY - If you think a capella music means old guys in bow ties singing "Sweet Adeline" at the barbershop, you've never heard Ball in the House.
MetroWest, Bergeron, on wire now
With photos

THEATER REVIEW: CRAFTY KEACH EMBODIES TRICKY DICK IN ‘FROST/NIXON’ - Peter Morgan’s play, “Frost/Nixon,” currently at the Colonial Theatre, vividly takes you back to the years immediately after Nixon resigned in disgrace.
Ledger, Fanger, on wire now
With photos

‘CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG’ BRINGS MAGIC TO THE WANG THEATRE - A magical car and devoted dad save the day in the musical “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” at the Wang Theatre.
Ledger, Feinberg, on wire now
With photos

'NO BITS OR BYTES, JUST BLACK AND WHITE' IN PHOTO SHOW - In the age of digital cameras, the art of black and white photography may be fading, so to speak, but Byrne believes it is an art that still has the power to inspire both viewers and photographers. Their true colors, as it were, come through at the Photo 2009 Black and White Classic at the Brush Art Gallery and Studios in Lowell, which will feature a juried show of black and white photographs from a variety of photographers.
CNC, Smith, on wire now
With photo

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